Ryan: Hey Khru Pim, it seems like getting a Thai massage is something that every tourist to Thailand has to try at least once. There are so many Thai massage parlors around the popular tourist areas. But, I was wondering if Thai massage is also very popular with local Thai people too.

Pim: Of course it is. I love going to get a Thai massage. It really helps to loosen up my muscles and feel more relaxed. You know we had Thai massage long before we had lots of international tourists.

Ryan: So how did Thai massage start then?

Pim: Well, some say that it started over 2500 years ago. The Buddha’s personal physician is given credit for being the first to practice Thai massage. But the modern form of Thai massage is more likely to be a mix of Indian and Chinese techniques.

Ryan: So what is it that makes Thai massage unique?

Pim: I think it’s the stretching. In Thai massage they apply deep pressure to your muscles, but they also put your body into yoga-like poses and stretch you out.

Ryan: Getting twisted like a pretzel doesn’t sound very relaxing to me.

Pim: Well, it’s true that some parts of a Thai massage are not always comfortable at the time. But trust me, the relaxation you’ll feel afterwards is worth it.

Ryan: Alright then, let’s move on now to the vocabulary.

Ryan: The first word we shall see is:

Pim: นวด (nûuat) [natural native speed]

Ryan : massage, to massage

Pim: นวด (nûuat) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: นวด (nûuat) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: น้ำมัน (nám-man) [natural native speed]

Ryan : oil

Pim: น้ำมัน (nám-man) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: น้ำมัน (nám-man) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: เท้า (tháao) [natural native speed]

Ryan : foot

Pim: เท้า (tháao) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: เท้า (tháao) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: ชั่วโมง (chûua-moong) [natural native speed]

Ryan : hour

Pim: ชั่วโมง (chûua-moong) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: ชั่วโมง (chûua-moong) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: เปลี่ยน (bplìian) [natural native speed]

Ryan : to change, to alter

Pim: เปลี่ยน (bplìian) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: เปลี่ยน (bplìian) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: เสร็จ (sèt) [natural native speed]

Ryan : finished, complete

Pim: เสร็จ (sèt) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: เสร็จ (sèt) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: ปวด (bpùuat) [natural native speed]

Ryan : sore, painful, to ache

Pim: ปวด (bpùuat) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: ปวด (bpùuat) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: หลัง (lǎng) [natural native speed]

Ryan : back, after, behind

Pim: หลัง (lǎng) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: หลัง (lǎng) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: ขา (khǎa) [natural native speed]

Ryan : leg

Pim: ขา (khǎa) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: ขา (khǎa) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: เบา ๆ (bao-bao) [natural native speed]

Ryan : softly, gently, lightly

Pim: เบา ๆ (bao-bao) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: เบา ๆ (bao-bao) [natural native speed]

Ryan : Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase we’ll look at is....

Ryan: So it’s possible to use ตรงนี้ (dtrong-níi) for “here” or ที่นี่ (thîi nîi), which also means “here”. In the conversation we had the sentence “Change your clothes here.”

Pim: เปลี่ยนเสื้อตรงนี้นะคะ (bplìian sûuea dtrong-níi ná khá)

Ryan: But we could say the same thing with ที่นี่ as well.

Pim: เปลี่ยนเสื้อที่นี่นะคะ (bplìian sûuea thîi nîi ná khá)

Ryan: Now the next phrase works similarly. It is...

Pim: ตรงไหน (dtrong-nǎi)

Ryan: This is the question “Where?”

Pim: Just like ตรงนี้ (dtrong-níi), we have ตรง. But now it’s followed by the question particle ไหน (nǎi), which means “which?”

Ryan: And just as before, you can choose to use ตรงไหน (dtrong-nǎi) or the other expression that means “where”, which is ที่ไหน (thîi nǎi). In the conversation we had the sentence “Where do you feel sore?”

Pim: ปวดตรงไหนบ้างคะ (bpùuat dtrong-năi bâang khá) But you could have also said ปวดที่ไหนบ้างคะ (bpùuat thîi nǎi bâang khá)

Ryan: And The last phrase is...

Pim: เสร็จแล้ว (sèt láaeo)

Ryan: This means “I’m finished” or “It’s ready”.

Pim: เสร็จ (sèt) can mean “ready”, “finished” or “complete”. So เสร็จแล้ว (sèt láaeo) means “finished already” or “done getting ready”. We will often use เสร็จแล้ว (sèt láaeo) with the subject of the sentence omitted in situations where it is obvious. For example, if I was waiting for you to finish doing something, you can let me know you are ready by saying...

Ryan: เสร็จแล้วครับ (sèt láaeo khráp), “I’m ready.”

Pim: Exactly.

Ryan: Now let’s move on to the grammar section.

Ryan: The focus of this lesson’s grammar is บ้าง (bâang) used to mean “some” or “any”.

Pim: We can use บ้าง (bâang) in questions to mean “some” or “any”. In a sentence, บ้าง (bâang) will follow a question word such as อะไร (à-rai)

Ryan: “what”,

Pim: ใคร (khrai)

Ryan: “who”

Pim: or ที่ไหน (thîi-nǎi)

Ryan: “where”

Pim: บ้าง (bâang) is used in questions that are expected to have more than one answer. For example เดือนหน้าคุณจะไปเที่ยวที่ไหนบ้าง (duuean nâa khun jà bpai thîiao thîi năi bâang)

Ryan: “Where are you traveling to next month?” So in this situation, maybe you already know that your friend has a plan to go to several destinations on their trip, and you want to find out the details. Let’s break down the sentence. First we had “next month”

Pim: เดือนหน้า (duuean nâa)

Ryan: Then “You will go traveling”

Pim: คุณจะไปเที่ยว (khun jà bpai thîiao)

Ryan: And finally “where?” or “where are some places?”

Pim: ที่ไหนบ้าง (thîi năi bâang). Now, we can also include the verb มี (mii) before the question word to ask for a full list. For example, ไปเที่ยวกับคุณ (bpai thîiao gàp khun) means “go traveling with you”. So if I wanted to know everyone you were going to travel with, I could ask มีใครบ้างที่จะไปเที่ยวกับคุณ (mii khrai bâang thîi jà bpai thîiao gàp khun)

Ryan: “Who’s going to travel with you?” Here the first part of the sentence means “who all is there”

Pim: มีใครบ้าง (mii khrai bâang)

Ryan: And the last part means “that is going to travel with you.”

Pim: ที่จะไปเที่ยวกับคุณ (thîi jà bpai thîiao gàp khun). Now one more thing we should point out is that บ้าง (bâang) means “any” when it’s used in yes or no questions. Take the sentence we just had. I can turn it into a yes or no question just by adding the question word ไหม (mái) to the end. And in this case บ้าง (bâang) has to be moved to come right before ไหม (mái). Then I’ll have...

Ryan: “Is there anybody who’s going to travel with you?” So the extra uncertainty added by using ไหม (mái) changes the meaning of มีใครบ้าง (mii khrai bâang) from “Who is there?” to “Is there anyone?” Let’s have both of those sentences for a comparison. First, “Who is going to travel with you?”

เสื้อ "suueaF" shirt ตรง "dtrong" exactly/ straight a head. Hope that's help. Please let me know if you have any future questions. I will be glad to help. We wish you will have a good progress with your Thai.

Have a good day.

Parisa

Team ThaiPod101.com

ช้าง

Thursday at 12:52 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Hi again. Thanks for your quick response. The guidelines are helpful, and on further review I see where I went wrong with reading the two words: เสื้อตรง.

However, I still have some questions about นวด. Since น is a low consonant, and the syllable is dead closed, the tone should be dependent on whether the vowel is long or short, as I understand it. While I feel like the vowel is likely to be long, I'm not sure - given that the word is spelled with all consonants. What is the tone of this word, and what is the general rule for this case?

Thanks,

ช้าง

ThaiPod101.com

Thursday at 12:45 am

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

สวัสดีค่ะ คุณ ช้าง

ขอบคุณค่ะ

อัว is long vowel.These following examples will show you best with it position. อ้วน ด้วย รวย สวย กล้วย ผัว กลัว หัว ครัว

ว is a consonant. These are words that ว act as a consonant ควาย ความ คิว สิว วิว หิว นิ้ว ผิว

Your examples is not a word here ...อตรง... When you study new words also used dictionary to help to learn how we pronounce the word as well will help a lot.

Here are something to tell you how the syllable begin and ended.

-The pre-posed vowels (เ แ โ ใ ไ) start a syllable.

-ะ ends a syllable (unless it is followed by a consonant with the symbol อ์ as in the word เคราะห์ . These -exceptions are rare. The symbol อ์ is called การันต์ /gaaM ranM/ or gaaran.)

-Except for European loan words (such as กอล์ฟ /gaawpH/), gaaran ends a syllable.

-A syllable starting with ใ or ไ is an open syllable.

-อั and อ็ do not appear over a syllable final consonant.

-Sometimes two consonants form an initial cluster together; a tone mark, if any, will appear on the second -consonant of such a cluster.

-อำ ends a syllable.

Hope that's help. Please let me know if you have any future questions. I will be glad to help. We wish you will have a good progress with your Thai.

Have a good day.

Parisa

Team ThaiPod101.com

ช้าง

Wednesday at 12:51 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Hello. I have a few questions regarding reading:

1) I've learned that ว can have an "uua" sound, such as in นวด. Since ว can act like a vowel, will it always be in a closed syllable or with a tone marker? If not is it considered a long vowel (for tone rules)?

2) Since Thai writing does not use spaces, are there any guidelines for where words/syllables begin and end (besides just knowing the words)? For example, I think I read somewhere that tone markers go over the beginning consonant. I misread ...อตรง... as two different syllables when I was trying to read the conversation without looking ahead to the romanization, though I likely would've figured it out when I tried to look it up.

Thanks,

ช้าง

ThaiPod101.com

Wednesday at 8:53 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Hi David,

Thank you very much for your comment and question. กับ can also means "and" , you will hear it more often than และ when we speak. One more word you can use in this case is แล้วก็ which means "and also/and then". มีนวดไทย นวดน้ำมัน แล้วก็นวดเท้าค่ะ

Hope that's help. Please let me know if you have any future questions. I will be glad to help. We wish you will have a good progress with Thai.

Have a nice day.

Parisa

Team ThaiPod101.com

David

Wednesday at 5:20 am

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Hello,

I have just a short question:

Why do you use กับ instead of และ (and) for listing the different massage types? I always thought กับ only mean "to" or "with"?

I love Thai massage. I would have to say it did bring me to my limits of discomfort but always left me feeling wonderful after.

My question is this, what would I expect to hear when I am being told to "turn over"?

Joanne

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